No Deal Brexit Preparation: What Do SaleCycle Intend to Do?

In this article, SaleCycle’s In-House Counsel and Data Protection Officer looks more closely at what will need to be done if the UK leaves the European Union on the 29th March without a deal.
At the time of writing my previous blog, a no deal Brexit looked like the least likely scenario, but depending on the outcome of the votes taking place in the UK Houses of Parliament between March 12 and 14, the possibility of the UK leaving the EU without a deal has increased, despite a political push from some sides to take no deal completely off the table.  
There’s a lot of very useful guidance available to assist companies in the event of a no deal Brexit and at the foot of this blog, I’ve highlighted some key resources from the UK government, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office and the European Data Protection Board.   
If we take the opportunity to consider a no deal Brexit specifically in relation to SaleCycle. We work with personal data on behalf of our clients and this blog looks more closely at what will need to happen to continue transferring data across borders in the event of a no deal.

Transfers from UK to EEA

The UK Government has stated that personal data transfers from the UK to the EEA shall remain unaffected as the UK Government has confirmed that it recognises the level of protection that GDPR provides as being adequate.

Transfers from the EEA to UK

Once the UK leaves the EU and if they leave without a Brexit deal, there will be an immediate period where the UK is classed as “a third country” and will require alternative measures to safeguard personal data.
The most efficient and straightforward mechanism is to incorporate the EU model clauses (also known as standard contractual clauses) into existing contracts, which will immediately legitimise the affected transfers of data and safeguard the rights of EU citizens. These are approved clauses published by the EU commission and afford data subjects the opportunity to enforce data protection against entities not established within the EU.  
If a no deal Brexit is not taken ‘off the table’ then SaleCycle will begin work to incorporate the EU model clauses into existing agreements. These clauses will allow SaleCycle services and data transfers to continue unaffected.

What Next?

SaleCycle will continue to monitor the developments within the UK Parliament and the EU commission and will be awaiting the outcome of the votes on the 12th, 13th and 14th March.  
We are not the only business preparing for no deal and if our client’s wish to take action prior to the votes in mid-March we will work with those clients on a case by case basis.

What Else?

SaleCycle uses sub-processors as part of our infrastructure and service delivery, some of which are based in the UK and some are based in the EEA (such as Amazon Web Services, Dublin, Ireland).  
We have already agreed Standard Contractual Clauses with our suppliers to ensure the supply chain remains unaffected.
Additional Resources:
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-and-brexit/
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-governments-preparations-for-a-no-deal-scenario/uk-governments-preparations-for-a-no-deal-scenario
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-to-prepare-if-the-uk-leaves-the-eu-with-no-deal
https://edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2019/european-data-protection-board-seventh-plenary-session-edpb-20192020-work-program_en
Views expressed within this blog post is opinion and does not constitute legal advice, you should seek your own advice on the views expressed above.